Have a question about the 1118 yeast. Is it possible to get a abv of 21% out of a yeast rated for 18%, bc if I read my hydrometer correct then my lil experiment has reach a 21%. Thanks for any and all advice.

what was the experiment??? some times solids in the must will over inflate the OG then as the solids drop out you will get a more accurate SG or FG reading resulting in a higher AVB rating than it really has. also what was your recipe as we can estimate your ABV based on quantity of sugar.

__________________- "It's all about time. You can't rush perfection. Time TIME TIME!!! You either need to pay on the front end or the rear. If the batch ferments out fast you need to secondary age or bottle age it. If it ferments out slow... months not weeks, then you don't have to age it nearly as long to get good flavors. Either way time is the key when making ciders and wines."

Have a question about the 1118 yeast. Is it possible to get a abv of 21% out of a yeast rated for 18%, bc if I read my hydrometer correct then my lil experiment has reach a 21%. Thanks for any and all advice.

Yes. Alcohol tolerance can often be pushed higher by incremental feeding, healthy yeast, and simple sugars. It would not be terribly uncommon to get 20% out of EC1118.

__________________Broken Leg BreweryGiving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

well it started of with a half gallon of left over white grape cherry wine that I added the f pack of pomegranite syrup from a kit to. So starting out the original batch recipe was
1.5 gal of welch's white grape cherry juice
2 lbs. sugar
pectic enzyme
yeast nutrient
ec- 1118 yeast. the starting SG was 1.107 and then when i racked the reading was 1.004 so then i took the left over half gallon and mixed it with the f pack and a lil water and nutrient and energizer. which kicked the SG to 1.084. and today when I racked my reading was 1.027. all readings have been temp adjusted. and thats pretty much what I did.

yep I think you are there based on the quantity of sugar. As yopper said incrementally adding sugar especially to "the beast" can get you that higher ABV above normal tolerance. And that second shot of sugar is what did it I am sure.

__________________- "It's all about time. You can't rush perfection. Time TIME TIME!!! You either need to pay on the front end or the rear. If the batch ferments out fast you need to secondary age or bottle age it. If it ferments out slow... months not weeks, then you don't have to age it nearly as long to get good flavors. Either way time is the key when making ciders and wines."

With that ABV, I would bottle it up, and let it sit 1 year MINIMUM!!!!

__________________- "It's all about time. You can't rush perfection. Time TIME TIME!!! You either need to pay on the front end or the rear. If the batch ferments out fast you need to secondary age or bottle age it. If it ferments out slow... months not weeks, then you don't have to age it nearly as long to get good flavors. Either way time is the key when making ciders and wines."

Leave it for 9-12 months (in bulk if you can) and then sample some... Something with a high ABV (anything over 18% is very high) needs more time to become great. My general rule of thumb is if it's at/over 18% don't even think about trying/drinking it for a solid year.

Don't completely forget about it... Check on it every so often, especially if you fit it with an airlock. You'll want to keep liquid in the airlock. After a while you can swap that for a solid bung/stopper, but still check on it. Keep it where the temperature is stable, and cooler, and it will age even better.